Lantos Foundation & Roosevelt Institute Partnership
2012 FDR International Disability Rights Award Re-Established
CONCORD, NH - The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice is pleased to announce that the FDR International Disability Rights Award will once again be granted to a United Nations Member State. The purpose of the award is to recognize that nation’s significant progress in implementing and meeting the goals and ideals characterized by the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett said, "Where there is injustice, people with disabilities often face discrimination and the most appalling treatment. We believe the rights of one are the rights of all, and this work is a natural extension of our efforts on behalf of human rights around the world."
Roosevelt Institute Chair Anna Eleanor Roosevelt said her organization is pleased to have an enthusiastic partner in the Lantos Foundation. “We have sponsored the award since its beginnings,” she said. “We’re grateful for this partnership and opportunity to once again select a deserving winner."
Originally established in 1995, this esteemed award has recognized ten Member States of the United Nations. The last nation to qualify for the award was New Zealand in 2008.
The 2012 recipient will be announced on December 3rd, UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and honored at a presentation ceremony in the spring of 2013.
The award is now administered jointly by the Roosevelt Institute and the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. It will be presented annually at the United Nations in New York to the Head of State of the honored nation, in the presence of the Secretary General. In addition, a $50,000 cash award will be given to an outstanding non-governmental program (NGO) working in the honored nation on behalf of persons with disabilities.
More information about the award can be found at the FDR International Disability Rights Award website.
"An Inconvenient Hero", Katrina Lantos Swett's Huffington Post Article On Chen Guangcheng
Lantos Foundation Co-Sponsors Visit Of The Drepung Gomang Monks To New Hampshire
Visit of the Drepung Gomang Monks to Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH.
The Drepung Gomang Monks will visit the Shaker Village in the days leading up to their season's Opening Day on Sunday, May 20th. We hope you will join us for this special program. In light of the immolations recently reported in the headlines, their visit serves as another reminder of the abuses the Tibetan [Autonomous Region of China] people suffer at the hands of the Chinese government.
Katrina Lantos Swett Featured on C-SPAN's Q&A with Brian Lamb
Lantos Foundation President, Katrina Lantos Swett was featured on C-SPAN's Q&A with Brian Lamb.
During this in-depth interview by Brian Lamb, Katrina spoke about the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, and her late father, Tom, who co-founded the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus. She told the story of her parents' experiences during the Holocaust and eventual immigration to the U.S. from Hungary. Other topics included her concerns about Russian leadership pulling the country away from democracy, and her admiration for the Dalai Lama's contributions to human rights.
As always, we appreciate your comments and your support which allow us to continue our work.
Watch the video:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?305009-1/qa-katrina-lantos-swett
Annette Lantos Defends Voice of America Broadcasts to China
Katrina Lantos Swett Appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice is pleased to announce that Katrina Lantos Swett has been appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The appointment was made on Monday, March 26th, 2012 by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The USCIRF was created by Congress as part of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and reauthorized by Congress in 2011. The nine Commissioners of this independent, bipartisan advisory body are appointed by the President of the United States and the leadership of both parties in the House and Senate. The Commission’s principalresponsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.
“As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, I have a profound connection to the issue of religious freedom and a deep understanding of the role that such freedoms can play in our country’s foreign policy decisions. I am deeply honored to be appointed to the USCIRF and look forward to serving alongside my esteemed fellow Commissioners,” Swettsaid.
Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett established the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice in 2008 to carry on the legacy of her late father, Congressman Tom Lantos the cofounder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the only survivor of the Holocaust ever to serve in the US Congress. Dr. Lantos Swett currently serves as the Foundation’sPresident and Chief Executive Officer. She teaches Human Rights and American Foreign Policy at Tufts University. Katrina has also taught at the University of Southern Denmark, served as Director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy at New England College, and worked for then-Senator Joe Biden as Deputy Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee – Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
Swett graduated from Yale University with a degree in Political Science. She received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and later earned a PhD in history at The University of Southern Denmark on the topic of Human Rights and American Foreign Policy.
Katrina Lantos Swett is married to Richard Swett, former U.S. Congressman and U.S. Ambassador to Denmark. They are the proud parents of seven children and two grandchildren. The Swetts reside in Bow, New Hampshire.
Christy Turlington Burns Joins Lantos Foundation For Film Series
"No Woman, No Cry” Tackles Maternal Mortality
(Concord, NH, March 22, 2012) Fashion icon and film maker Christy Turlington Burns will present her film, “No Woman, No Cry “at Concord High School in the Christa McAuliffe Auditorium on Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 7pm. “No Woman, No Cry” is a riveting documentary that follows four women in four countries including the United States, as they struggle to avoid adding to the grim maternal mortality statistics. This film has been selected as a feature presentation for The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s annual convention this summer.
Turlington Burns’ appearance is part of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice’s ongoing film series focusing on human rights around the world.
"When Hillary Clinton said in Beijing, 'human rights are women's rights - and women's rights are human rights,' she elucidated for all of us the profound link between a decent and hopeful future for women and a productive and prosperous future for society,” said Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation. “In this powerful documentary we are reminded how far we have to go in achieving these goals."
Turlington Burns, who faced her own sense of mortality after the difficult delivery of her daughter, has dedicated her life to improving access to adequate health care for women around the world. She is the founder of Every Mother Counts, an advocacy campaign to increase support for maternal and child health.
“I am very honored that the Lantos Foundation for Humans Rights has selected No Woman, No Cry to be part of their ongoing film series focusing on human rights,” said Christy Turlington Burns, director/producer and founder of Every Mother Counts. “I hope the film will illustrate to the Concord community the challenges so many women around the world face in accessing maternal health care at critical times during their reproductive lives. It is a human rights injustice to allow women to die while bringing life into the world when we know how to prevent most of these senseless deaths. Educating an empowered community like this one can bring about lasting social change.”
Following the presentation Turlington Burns will join in a panel discussion with Dr. Barry D. Smith, former chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and current President of the New England OB/GYN Society and Katrina Lantos Swett.
Following the film and discussion, there will a reception.
Tickets are $20 and available through Red River Theatres or at the door the night of the event at Concord High School.
Coincidence? Russian President Orders Review of Khodorkovsky Case
As you know, we have been active on the issue of rule of law and democracy in Russia for years. We recently released a link to our mini-documentary and an op/ed highlighting the case of Russia's most prominent political prisoner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
We want to make you aware that in the wake of Russia's elections yesterday, The New York Times is reporting that outgoing President Dimitri Medvedev has ordered the prosecutor-general to review the legality of Mr. Khodorkovsky's conviction along with some 30 other cases. We think it is not a coincidence, as Mikhail's release has been one of the key demands of the democracy protesters.
While we do not want to be naively optimistic, we hope this is a sign that the Kremlin is prepared to make meaningful moves in the direction of reform. If so, we welcome it. There can be no doubt that the release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky has to be part of any move toward true democracy in Russia.
Can Enlightenment Come to Russia?
The Lantos Foundation is proud to announce the release of a compelling mini-documentary about Russia’s most prominent political prisoner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. We hope you'll take the time to read this email, and share it with your social media contacts.
"The Man Who Believed He Could Change Russia”, is an engaging personal drama, and a powerful narrative about Russia’s retreat from democracy during Putin’s reign. Given recent events, this story is deeply relevant for all those who share Mikhail’s vision of a truly free Russia.
The mockery of justice and rule of law in Russia we have long highlighted in conjunction with the Khodorkovsky case was again on display this past week. Shockingly, Russian Interior Ministry officials announced plans to posthumously prosecute whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in detention under suspicious circumstances over two years ago after he uncovered massive tax fraud on the part of Russian government officials.
This abysmal “legal nihilism” and absence of rule of law is at the heart of what ails Russia. Along with recent blatant electoral fraud, it is one of the reasons that hundreds of thousands of Russians have taken to the streets in opposition to Putin’s regime.
It is our hope that the people of Russia will have the courage and determination to bring about real reform in their country, and we owe them our encouragement and support. May we suggest something simple you can do? Please share this important message with friends and colleagues, by forwarding this email or posting to your social media sites.
If we work together, we can increase pressure on what Alexey Navalny has called the gang of “crooks and thieves” that currently rules the Kremlin. At the very least, we must try to shame them into dropping the outrageous and bizarre trial of the late young hero Magnitsky and grant freedom to Khodorkovsky, a man whose only real crime was daring to challenge Putin’s authority.